Your Favorite FW Fish

[Karegg]

What kind of fish do you have in your FW setup(s)? How do they get along with each other (and you)? How hard are they to care for?

I'm trying to get some opinions on different fish to help me decide on what I'd like to get.

 

[p3purr]

Let us know what size tank you have since it may make a differance on what you can have and a general idea of what's important to you.
For example:
small, community, easy to care, lots of color
a few large fish that are different kinds, not real common
small fish that like real plants
sparse rocky tank, colorful fish

 

[Karegg]

Tank will be somewhere between a 29 and 55 gal freshwater, likely planted and with rocks. I prefer more active fish that like to school, and so I'm looking for smaller fish so I can keep them in groups. As far as appearance, I like the looks of the yoyo and clown loaches, otos (especially the zebra), rummy nose tetras, and the corydoras hastatus. These are just fish I think look cool, and I'm open to any and all suggestions

 

[p3purr]

Schools of tetra will look great and fill your needs. Some beckford pencilfish and rasbora will get along fine. Harlequin Rasbora are very pretty but there are other rasbora that will add color too. The pencilfish are so much fun to watch, they flare and interact with each other a lot differently than tetras. Throw in a bristlenose pleco with some driftwood or a group of cories (all the same, they like to be in schools). Otto's and Kuhli loaches are neat after the tank is VERY well established. Both of them like being in groups too.

Lets see, I love tetras and some of my favorite are: Glowlight, Columbian (a bit shy in smaller tanks) and gold. There are tons of great tetra that are readily available and add different colors and body shapes to a tank. They can all take a fairly wide range of water.

The cory's and kuli loaches like soft substate that doesn't have sharp edges.

Clown loaches get BIG, too big for a 29 and wouldn't do great in a planted 55. They'd look odd with a group of small fish. Loaches do better in groups, some of them will kill other fish if not in a group. I had a really bad experiance with a skunk loach.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

My favorite fish are ARLC (African Rift Lake Cichlids). Malawi Mbuna in particular. They have fascinating personalities and are full of color.

 

[neilanh]

Furcata rainbows are my most recent favorites. Very active little things.

 

[SuCraM]

I have a ten gallon that is finishing being cycled. I plan on putting tropicals in there. Any idea for me people. It will have a charcoal filter with gravel substrate and fake plants and air stones.